Hold on to your hats guys, by the amount of tension caused by post 1, this could get ugly!!!

Hand #2 KQs

In my mind this hand is a double edged sword, In an unraised pot it should be played for its pair potential, rarely will someone limp with AQ or AK, the only hands that have you outkicked if you flop top pair.

when the pot is unraised you should raise this hand to eliminate players if possible, or if you have multiple limpers you should raise for value because of the extra big hand potential. Talk about conflicting strategies, I love poker!

On the other hand in a raised pot it should be played for big hand potential. Every hand a decent player would raise or call a raise with has you beat and often dominated. You will need a flop of 2 pair or better, or a big draw to play on most times. Playing this hand in a raised pot is where I think it gets tricky and opens up a debate.

Now let's get controversial, what would a Steve-O post be without some controversy!

Situation - UTG player raises (he's a semi-solid player and would need AJ or better, or a pair of 9s and up to raise) everyone folds to you on the button you of course have KQs, the BB is a calling station, what do you do?

Situation 2 - Same situation but you have another caller (A loose but not maniacal player, he could hold anything from 45s to pocket Queens). what do you do?

Situation 3 - same situation as before but there are now 4 callers. What do you do?

My thoughts to follow...

Fold (although a re-raise crossed my mind, it seems SO wrong), call, raise or call(I think i should call)

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“There's no sense in being precise when you don't even know what you're talking about.” - John von Neumann

1)Fold
2)Fold
3)Call or Fold: I would lean towards folding, but I'm not too adamant about either decision.

2 might be a fold if they don't suck enough

__________________
“There's no sense in being precise when you don't even know what you're talking about.” - John von Neumann

Fold, Call, Fold...this is my input, but I always like to see what other write, cause I have prolly the least experience in the game...

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I would probably call in all spots, KQs has enough flop potential that I would like to see a flop and don't really mind a few players coming a long - no need to build a big pot yet.

Flop action will tell me how to continue.

god, you're prolly right, I tend to play all blinds, unless it's a completely terrible hand, but then again I do all IRL...who am I trying to kid...LoL...

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situation 1 - in my eyes this is a clear cut fold, you are an underdog to every possible holding the raiser could have and dominated more than 50% of the time. the couple of extra bets the calling station puts in will just give you more of a reason to chase when you are drawing practically dead. Also with only 3 players in the pot, this pot will never get REAL big.

The suited aspect usually leads people to make the mistake of calling, it only gives you about 4% more to your win rate. you will be able to take control of the betting (flopping 2 pair or better) only about 8% of the time.



Situation 2 - a call is probably correct.

I would guess; with an EP player who has shown aggression/ 2 loose players/ and you having position, if you hit your hand this is a 25+ bet pot.

I however would sometimes use this scenario to see exactly what your opponent has. I would re-raise here. Yes it may fold the BB and a reraise may fold the caller, but that just leaves you heads up in 11.5 bet pot (4 of it yours of course).

You will also know how hard you need to hit your hand to win. this will help you read his hand better on the flop. It may also get you a free card on the flop.

So here I call 50% of the time, and re-raise about 50% of the time, mostly for information and to build a pot, but I am not totally upset when it eliminates opponents, and also it just might get me a free card with what is basically a drawing hand in a raised pot.



Situation 3 - Again lets look at the math first at least 12 bets preflop(not including yours) automatic call. you are looking at another 25+ bet pot and you are 8% to hit 2 pair or better on the flop.

A raise here accomplishes very little other than building a pot, but is the correct play. This is like raising an A2XX suited in Omaha8 when many players are in, "this could be the big one". However you need to use your good judgement and patience to realize not to chase non existent outs.

a re-raise turns this into a no fold em pot, as long as you can avoid this, unlike your opponents, UNLESS of course you hit, you will do pretty good in these situations.

If you hit this is now a 50 bet pot, considering 20-25 preflop. make it big, but use your poker skill to realize when you can't win, no matter how big the pot gets.

I don't like 3-betting KQs.

Sit one, you have AJ+ and 99 plus.

That is 3 pairs, or about 18 hands that you are 50/50 with 9-9
AJ - 16 ways. that is also about 50/50 8-8
AK, AQ - 24 ways 70/30 dog 7.2-16.8
AA - 6 ways 82/17 1-5
KK - 2 ways 86/14 .28-1.62
QQ - 2 ways 64/35 .7-1.3

26.2 wins 41.8 losses. 1:1.5 - you are getting more than if the BB folds and you have position on your opponent.

It is definitely close, but I don't think you can say this is a no-brain fold, it also depends on your post-flop play and your oppnenets post-flop play.

I think the bigger problem Beav is when you do hit!

This is definetly a no brainer fold. You are an underdog to EVERY single possible hand.